Obamacare Repeal, Obamacare Mandate—3 Senate Votes Including 3 Republican RINOS Who Side with the Democrats

The library is closed Friday and Saturday. I plan to resume posting Monday.


Since today’s is a long post, I’m posting without comment. I did use red for important sections. These are three votes either pro-life or pro-MURDER. All Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare. However, a couple of Republicans voted pro-MURDER on the other two questions. Now, they will say they voted against Obamacare and not mention to Republicans that they voted for MURDER in the other 2.

One of which is Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. One would think his bout with death would give him a life prospective. It did NOT! Unless he repents, his MURDER votes are dooming him! He also supports the homosexual agenda! I didn’t vote for him in the primary or general election. I will not vote for him ever, unless he repents!

From: http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/22/democrats-defeat-cruz-amendment-to-repeal-pro-abortion-obamacare/

“Democrats Defeat Cruz Amendment to Repeal Pro-Abortion Obamacare

by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
3/22/13

On the third anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s controversial pro-abortion health care bill, Democrats defeated an amendment to repeal Obamacare.

Senator Ted Cruz, a pro-life Republican from Texas, filed an amendment to the budget bill to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to provide for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and to encourage patient-centered reforms to improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs.

But Democrats balked and defeated the measure 54-45, with Republicans voting for the amendment and Democrats in opposition.

‘Tomorrow is the three-year anniversary of the passage of Obamacare,’ Cruz said on the floor before the vote. ‘Obamacare is hurting young people. It’s hurting seniors. It’s hurting Hispanics. It’s hurting African-Americans. It’s hurting single moms. It’s hurting the economy. It should be repealed.’

‘ObamaCare itself includes some 20 tax increases over $1 trillion,’ Cruz said. ‘Many of those tax increases fall of the middle class.’

Until Democrats no longer control the Senate and White House, repeal of Obamacare will remain limited to the House.

Unhappy that the Supreme Court didn’t overturn the Obamacare law that includes taxpayer funding of abortions and rationing concerns, leading pro-life groups have urged members of Congress to vote to repeal the law wholesale.

In a letter to members of Congress previously, the National Right to Life Committee said it is concerned about both abortion funding and health care rationing.

‘NRLC vigorously opposed enactment of the Obamacare law in 2009-2010, because of its multiple provisions authorizing federal subsidies for abortion insurance, multiple provisions allowing abortion-expansive federal mandates, and multiple provisions that will place unacceptable limits on the right of vulnerable Americans to use their own money, if they choose, to obtain both health care and health insurance less likely to deny needed health care,’ the pro-life group explained.

It continued: ‘Since its inception, the pro-life movement has been as concerned with protecting the lives of older people and people with disabilities from euthanasia, including the involuntary denial of treatment, food, and fluids necessary to prevent death, as it has been dedicated to protecting unborn children from abortion.’

Meanwhile, the Susan B. Anthony List has urged members to vote for repeal as well and focused on abortion funding.

‘Obamacare creates heavy federal subsidies—your tax dollars—to help pay for insurance plans that cover elective abortion,’ it said in an action alert to its membership. ‘Millions of Americans will be enrolled—many unknowingly—in health care plans that include elective abortion coverage.’

‘These plans will charge enrollees, regardless of age and gender, a minimum of $1 per month—an ‘abortion surcharge’ that will go into an abortion slush fund. Under a rule recently issued by Health and Human Services (HHS), the existence of the ‘abortion surcharge’ only needs to be disclosed once—in the fine print—during the enrollment process,’ SBA continued. ‘This surcharge is included without itemization in the monthly premium and is never disclosed again.’

The Supreme Court incorrectly ruled

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/06/28/supreme-court-upholds-pro-abortion-pro-rationing-obamacare/

that Obamacare is constitutional, pro-life groups said in response to the decision. They are pointing out that the need is greater now than ever to defeat pro-abortion President Barack Obama and elect a pro-life Senate that will join the House in repealing the legislation.

Under the enacted law, federal tax-based subsidies will begin in 2014 to subsidize millions of private insurance plans that will cover abortion-on-demand, including some plans (‘multi-state plans’) that will be administered by the federal government. Under another provision of the law, the federal government could even order many plans that do not receive federal subsidies to cover abortion as a ‘preventive’ service. The law also created an array of other mechanisms and funding pipelines by which access to and subsidies for abortion can be expanded if President Obama wins a second term (sic—my addition).

The Senate vote on the amendment follows:

Grouped By Vote Position

Yes—45

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

No—54

Baldwin (D-WI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Cowan (D-MA)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Hirono (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not voting

Lautenberg (D-NJ)”

From: http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/22/senate-votes-to-reaffirm-the-pro-abortion-obama-hhs-mandate/

“Senate Votes to Reaffirm the Pro-Abortion Obama HHS Mandate

by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
3/22/13

Members of the Senate voted today on a mostly party-line vote to reaffirm the controversial HHS mandate, that compels religious groups to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs despite their religious or moral objections.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a pro-abortion Democrat from New Hampshire, filed an amendment to reaffirm the HHS mandate authorized under the Obamacare health care law. That amendment passed on a 56-43 vote (see below).

Democrats supported the HHS mandate along with pro-abortion Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Mark Kirk (Illinois) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) while pro-life Sen. Joe Manchin (West Virginia) was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans.

Shaheen said that her amendment makes sure a woman’s family planning decisions ‘are not dictated by government or her employer.’

‘The United States has one of the highest rate of unintended pregnancies in the developed world,’ Shaheen said. ‘Preventing unintended pregnancies just makes sense.’

But pro-life Senator Mike Johanns, a Nebraska Republican, disagreed and said, ‘We must also protect the deeply religious beliefs in this country. This law tramples on the rights of individuals.’

Earlier this week, the nation’s Catholics bishops said the revised mandate is a horrible violation of religious freedom.

The general counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops states that the current proposed revisions of the Obama Administration’s contraceptive mandate are ‘an unprecedented … violation of religious liberty by the federal government’ and must be changed.

The statement is in comments filed March 20 regarding the mandate, which requires most health plans in the United States to cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, sterilization procedures, and related education and counseling, which the USSCB strongly opposes.

The comments, made on the USCCB’s behalf by Anthony R. Picarello, USCCB associate general secretary and general counsel, and Michael F. Moses, associate general counsel, note a number of continuing problems with the regulations, which had been the subject of earlier rulemaking and comment by the USCCB.

Their comments follow:

‘First, like earlier iterations of the regulation, the latest proposal requires coverage of items and procedures that, unlike other mandated ‘preventive services,’ do not prevent disease. Instead, they are associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including conditions that other ‘preventive services’ are designed to prevent.

Second, no exemption or accommodation is available at all for the vast majority of individual or institutional stakeholders with religious or moral objections to contraceptive coverage. Virtually all Americans who enroll in a health plan will ultimately be required to have contraceptive coverage for themselves and their dependents, whether they want it or not.

Third, although the definition of an exempt ‘religious employer’ has been revised to eliminate some of the intrusive and constitutionally improper government inquiries into religious teaching and beliefs that were inherent in an earlier definition, the current proposal continues to define ‘religious employer’ in a way that, by the government’s own admission, excludes (and therefore subjects to the mandate) a wide array of employers that are undeniably religious. Generally the nonprofit religious organizations that fall on the ‘non-exempt’ side of this religious gerrymander include those organizations that contribute most visibly to the common good through the provision of health, educational, and social services.

Fourth, the Administration has offered what it calls an ‘accommodation’ for nonprofit religious organizations that fall outside its narrow definition of ‘religious employer.’ The ‘accommodation’ is based on a number of questionable factual assumptions. Even if all of those assumptions were sound, the ‘accommodation’ still requires the objecting religious organization to fund or otherwise facilitate the morally objectionable coverage.

Fifth, the mandate continues to represent an unprecedented (and now sustained) violation of religious liberty by the federal government. As applied to individuals and organizations with a religious objection to contraceptive coverage, the mandate violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The vote on today’s amendment follows:

Grouped By Vote Position

Yes—56

Baldwin (D-WI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-Maine)
Coons (D-DE)
Cowan (D-MA)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Hirono (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-Illinois)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

No—43

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lee (R-UT)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting – 1

Lautenberg (D-NJ)”

From: http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/22/senate-democrats-vote-against-conscience-protections-from-hhs-mandate/

“Senate Democrats Vote Against Conscience Protections From HHS Mandate

by Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC
LifeNews.com
3/22/13

Senate Democrats voted on Friday against an amendment from pro-life Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska to the budget that would offer Americans conscience protections from the controversial HHS mandate.

The amendment would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to protect women’s access to health care, including primary and preventive care, but in a manner consistent with protecting rights of conscience.

Earlier in the day, Senate Democrats voted today on a mostly party-line vote to reaffirm the controversial HHS mandate, that compels religious groups to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs despite their religious or moral objections. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a pro-abortion Democrat from New Hampshire, filed an amendment to reaffirm the HHS mandate authorized under the Obamacare health care law. That amendment passed on a 56-43 vote.

Maureen Ferguson, Senior Policy Advisor with The Catholic Association, decried the vote in comments to LifeNews.

‘The Senate today voted against the 1st Amendment and religious freedom in a vote forcing Americans to pay for abortion products in their health care plans,’ she said. ‘People of faith should not be forced to buy health plans that include products that so flagrantly conflict with their religious faith. They should be allowed the choice to buy plans that do not offer products that conflict with their deeply held religious beliefs.”

She said Senate Democrats ‘ran roughshod over the 1st Amendment and a corner stone principle of American freedom—religious liberty. We applaud the efforts of Senator Deb Fischer to protect religious liberty.’

‘The Senate has shown it cares less about the conscience rights of small business owners and charity workers than the cash reserves of big corporations,’ added Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association. ‘Shame on those senators who care more about protecting the financial interests of corporations than the constitutional rights of their citizens. This is pandering to rich people with one hand while crumpling the Constitution with the other.’

Polling routinely shows that more than 60 percent of Americans oppose the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion. Polling also shows that 77 percent of Americans believe it is important that health care professionals not be forced to participate in procedures or practices to which they have moral objections.

The vote appears below. A Yes vote is the pro-life vote.

Yes—44

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lee (R-UT)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Pryor (D-AR)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

No—55

Baldwin (D-WI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-Maine)
Coons (D-DE)
Cowan (D-MA)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Hirono (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-Illinois)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not voting

Lautenberg (D-NJ)”